Panelized lid assembly for washing machine appliance
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorAdam Raymond Mora
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A washing machine appliance including a panelized lid assembly. The washing machine appliance includes a lid assembly including a top portion and a bottom portion coupled together. The top portion defines a plurality of stake receptors, and the bottom portion includes a plurality of staking posts, wherein the distal end of the plurality of staking posts are received within the plurality of stake receptors and permanently deformed via plastic deformation technique.
Claims20
A washing machine appliance, defining a mutually orthogonal vertical direction, lateral direction, and transverse direction, the washing machine appliance comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a wash tub positioned within the cabinet;
- and
- a lid assembly, comprising:
- a top portion defining a plurality of stake receptors positioned along a perimeter of the top portion;
- and
- a bottom portion coupled to the top portion, the bottom portion comprising:
- a plurality of staking posts positioned along a perimeter of the bottom portion, wherein a distal end of the plurality of staking posts are received within the plurality of stake receptors and permanently deformed via a plastic deformation technique to join the bottom portion to the top portion.
A method for assembling a washing machine appliance, the washing machine appliance comprising a cabinet, a wash tub positioned within the cabinet, and a lid assembly, the lid assembly comprising a top portion defining a plurality of stake receptors positioned along a perimeter of the top portion, and a bottom portion coupled to the top portion, the bottom portion comprising a plurality of staking posts positioned along a perimeter of the bottom portion, wherein a distal end of the plurality of staking posts are received within the plurality of stake receptors;
- the method comprising:
- aligning the plurality of staking posts of the bottom portion with the plurality of stake receptors of the top portion;
- positioning the top portion directly on top of the bottom portion;
- plasticly deforming the plurality staking posts via a plastic deformation technique to permanently position the plurality of staking posts within the plurality of stake receptors;
- and
- attaching the lid assembly to the cabinet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.